


Little Brother of Mine

by RougueShadowWolf



Series: 15 Minutes [54]
Category: Teen Wolf (TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe, Stiles Stilinski is a Hale
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-05-20
Updated: 2016-02-20
Packaged: 2018-03-31 10:31:20
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 3
Words: 9,063
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3974809
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/RougueShadowWolf/pseuds/RougueShadowWolf
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>It’s a strange thing to find something you thought was forever lost, only to learn it hadn’t missed you half as much as you’d missed it.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> I was asked to write a story where Stiles is Derek’s little brother, I know my friends aren’t very inspiring at the moment and that’s why this is well for the lack of a good word none-interesting. So I was asked to make So I thought that I’d make this an AU where Stiles is Derek’s baby brother and he was around five or four-years old when the fire-happens, and he and Cora manage to escape but Cora sort of dumps him when the hunters give chase because she knows she’s got a better survival-rate without the extra weight of a crying baby like Dylan Hale had been, but the little boy with burns on his legs and arms gets lucky when a less homicidal hunter finds him and takes care of the boy for a while before dumping him and so on… and eventually the little boy with burns gets adopted by John and Claudia Stilinski. Oh God this sucks.   
> And I have no idea how or why I threw Isaac in to this story it just happened

 

_ `Delek!´ the loud shriek brings a smile on Derek’s lips even though he’s grounded for lying to their mother, their Alpha, and he’s been sulking in his room for the better part of an hour. But there’s just something about Dylan that always makes him smile, even when he just wants to rage and rip the world to pieces, and as the little boy with brown eyes far too big for his little round face and feather soft chestnut brown hair that was yet another part of their father passed down to the little boy came towards his bed Derek stayed unmoving resting on his side with his back towards the little human; like their father Dylan Thomas Hale was born human, and while some members of their family frowned upon Dylan being human Derek loved his baby brother the most because it simply made the little boy more precious to him. _

 

_ `Help.´ the little boy trying to pull himself up onto Derek’s bed but without any success, and Derek thinks about pretending he doesn’t hear his baby brother but as soon as the little boy began to whine his resolve broke.  _

 

_ `Help me Delek. Please, help me. ´ the desperation in the little voice as well as the tears of frustration Derek could smell was enough for Derek to turn around and help his baby brother up onto his bed a bed Dylan had a habit of crawling into at night, while the other kids would crawl into their parents beds for comfort Dylan came to his and it made him feel even more special and loved.Derek warps his arms around his little brother who sighs happily while snuggling closer to him the patched-up plush-bunny that had once upon a time been Derek’s but he’d handed the toy over to his baby brother the moment he realized Dylan was his favorite sibling.  _

 

_ `You mad at mama?´ the cautious little voice was gentle as he pried for answers his little hands soft and gentle as they exploder Derek’s face, and Derek nods which causes his little but oh so bright little brother to say, `Mama loves you, so don’t be mad.´ Derek snorts a little at that and he wants to tell Dylan that their mother doesn’t love but rule them, but instead of breaking the illusion Dylan still had of their mother he chose to simply kiss the top of his brother’s head and hold him closer before saying, `Well, I love you the best.´  _

 

_ `I too love you most Delek.´  _

 

Derek squeezes the burned-up moldy remains of the toy he’d found while ranging over the unfairness of life after finding only half of his sisters remains, the toy had been dear to Derek when he’d been much younger and then equally dear to Dylan once Derek passed the toy on to him, seeing the toy was enough to spark those painful memories of his little brother; Derek had spent years trying to ignore all the memories involving his little brother, he’d attempted to pretend he’d never had a little brother just two sisters and he’d always gone into uncontrollable rages when Laura brought their little brother up in conversation.

 

_ `Delek. You no go.´ his brother whined and pouting at the door to his bedroom little arms wrapped around the bunny that had lost both of its blue eyes and were now sporting a pair of green buttons and one of its ears had been lostsomewhere between last June or July, Derek continues to ignore his little brother and grabs his stuff instead; Dylan had been like this since Derek had told his family there was a late night practices he had to attend after dinner, Dylan had been so upset by the news that their mother had him removed from the dinner table and carried upstairs for time-out.  _

 

_ `I’ve got to go.´ Derek says while walking over to the little boy who’s eyes are quickly filling with tears, `Come on Dyl, I’ll be back before you know it.´  _

 

_ `No.´ his little brother sniffled, and Derek really didn’t have the time for one of Dylan’s tantrums, Kate was waiting for him and she hated it when he was late, and he really wanted to have the surprise she’d been promising him for the past week.  _

 

_ `You no go. I scaled Delek.´ and with those words his brother latched onto his legs with a grip of sheer desperation, `Stay. Stay Delek. I scaled. Please.´  _

 

_ Derek unlatched his little brother and kneeled before him and looked into the brown orbs, `Dylan, what’s going on?´ he asked and Dylan just repeated the same words of being scared and not wanting him to go, `There’s nothing to be scared about, dad’s here and mom’s here, and uncle Peter too.´ Derek sees that Dylan isn’t comforted by what he’s saying which is odd considering how Dylan isn’t only Derek’s favorite Hale but Peter’s too, and Derek knows that if anyone of the younger wolves were to escape Peter would keep Dylan safe.  _

 

_ `You no go.´ Dylan cried but Derek was set on seeing Kate, and so he calls for Peter while standing back up and as soon as he moves his little brother wraps his arms around Derek’s legs again rubbing his tearstained face against the fabric of his jeans, Peter appears quickly enough to reveal to Derek that he’d been somewhere close by.  _

 

_ `Could you take him?´ Derek asks while Peter strolls into the room, Peter nods and reaches out towards the little boy who starts screaming his protests while Peter removes him from Derek.  _

 

_ `See you later Dyl.´ is all Derek says before rushing out of the house, he can hear his little brother crying for him to come back even when he stands and watches the house with their family burned down to the ground, he hears Dylan crying for him.  _

 

Derek can’t stop the tears that start to fall at the memory of the last time he saw his little brother and he’s about to start another rampage of throw things around and roaring out his grief and anger when he hears voices unfamiliar coming from not too far away. He steps out onto the porch cautiously.Derek knows it’s not safe for him to be alone in Beacon Hills especially if there’s another wolf in town ready to kill without hesitation or mercy, he’s also well acquainted with the danger hunters could provide for someone like him and there was no tellingwhether or not the trespassers were a threat to him or how many of them there were at this point. Derek tilts his head and listens to the odd conversation between what has to be two teenagers, but then he picks-up a third much younger voice pipe-up saying words that strikes odd to him.

 

`Werewolf, maybe you’re turning into a werewolf.´ Derek’s heart begins to race as the scent of a werewolf indeed catches his attention, a werewolf without a pack, an omega alone with what smells like a human teenager and a….

 

The howl that erupts from the young boy causes Derek’s heart to skip a beat while the scent of the kid stops it before causing it to race twice as fast as before, he recognizes the howl as well as the scent even though both had changed during the six years that had passed.

 

However the doubts were not enough to stop Derek from sprinting towards the direction of the familiar scent and the howls made by a human and not a wolf. 

 

_ Can’t be,  _ Derek thinks while he continues to listen to the howl that breaks off the way he’d heard it do several times before, _it just can’t be._

 

_ He’s almost done putting on his Halloween costume when a howl erupts from beside him, and he looks at the two year old sitting on the floor next to him wearing his very own wolf-costume, a look of surprise on his face as it dawns on the little boy that he’d managed to howl fairly well.  _

 

_ `You did it baby bro.´ Derek cheers while pulling his brother off of the floor and up into his own arms, and peppering the round little cheeks with kisses, `Do it again.´ and Dylan howled once more and this time with a great big smile to finish it off, Derek felt incredibly proud because he’d been trying to teach his baby brother how to howl properly.  _

 

Derek finds what he’s looking for soon enough. There are two teenagers between the ages of sixteen and seventeen one of which is the newly turned werewolf although from the conversation Derek had heard it seemed the kid with dark floppy hair was unaware of his new found power; and this fresh little werewolf was the one in search of the inhaler that sat in Derek’s pocket. 

 

`Come on Stiles, help us find the damn inhaler before we all get into trouble.´ the taller kid with curly hair and pale skin said while continuing to push around dead leaves on the ground and suddenly a boy with chestnut brown hair and bright wide brown eyes pops out from behind one of the trees wielding a stick like a sword. 

 

Derek’s heart nearly stops because this kid smells like family, like pack, like Dylan. Then there are those flecks of dark moles even though there’s a few more moles than what there had been years ago but there’s no mistaking the kid for anyone else than Dylan. The kid stops and stares at Derek mouth agape and dropping his stick and yet the two older males do not notice a thing, and Derek is suddenly well aware that the last message Laura had left him was about finding their little brother alive and in Beacon Hills. 

 

_ Derek checks his messages and he’s not all that surprised to find around ten of them being from Laura, he’s not bothered about them but listens to them half-heartedly while grabbing a bottle of water from the fridge he’s muscles ached after the workout, there were one too many messages with the same stuff and so he started skipping them until he reached the last one.  _

 

_ `Der. Derek. Pick-up your damn phone for once.´ she sounds out of breath but happy and she’s laughing,`Der. I can’t believe it. Derek, I know it’s hard to believe but he’s – he’s alive and still in Beacon Hills.´Derek thinks this is just a call about their uncle, although he wasn’t all that sure he wanted to hear more about the state of Peter considering how Derek was the cause of Peter’s burns, and for agreeing to leave their uncle in Beacon Hills when Laura insisted the two of them should leave but Derek continues to listen while finishing the last bottle of water in their apartment; Derek had his suspicions that he really should head to the store,he wasn’t just out of bottled water but milk as well as a few other things.  _

 

_ The list of things he needs to buy vanishes from his thoughts as he hears Laura say, ` He looks like dad Derek, but like adorable. And I talked to him Der, I had to make sure and I talked to him,´and now Derek’s confused because who the hell was she talking about, `He’s so smart, so smart and funny, and...´ but then there’s a howl and she tells him she has to go but she would call soon and tell him everything, but when Derek checks for the time when the message had been created he’s shocked to find it had been days ago when Laura had called him the last time.  _

 

Derek stares at his little brother who continues to do the same, although unlike Derek who just can’t get his body to move because, he is completely stunned by the realization that his little brother Dylan is standing there alive and breathing and Derek can’t help but smile a little as he realizes that Laura had found their little brother alive and well. 

 

`Isaac.´ the boy says while moving closer to the werewolf and the one with curly hair,`Scott.´ but neither one of the older boys seem to react that slightest to his presence not until Dylan pulls at the sweater of the taller youth with pale skin. 

 

`Isaac.´ Dylan says while pulling at the sweater a little more, insisting that the boy with the sweater and scarf would turn his attention away from the search his partaking in, `Isaac.´

 

`What?´ the older kid with the sweater and scarf sounds rather annoyed with the younger boy who doesn’t stop pulling at the sweater or turn his gaze away from Derek’s, `What is it Stiles.´ 

 

_ Stiles? _ Derek is slightly taken aback by this new nickname given to his little brother. Stiles was an odd nickname that made no sense at all to him. 

 

Isaac the tall slender youth is up on his feet as soon as his striking blue eyes focused to where Dylan was pointing, the young male makes a strange noise before shoving Dylan behind him, and Dylan doesn’t even fight him on it as if he trusts the older male’s judgement. 

 

`Who are you? What do you want? ´ the kid called Isaac says rather demandingly while Dylan peeks from behind him. The werewolf is up on his feet and standing looking confused and worried, and moving closer to where the two humans are standing, the fact that a fresh werewolf Derek didn’t know was as close as the dark-eyed youth was. 

 

`Dylan.´ Derek says while taking a step forward, voice soft and gentle which was unfamiliar to him now after spending years angry and hostile.All three boys go ridged at first, none of them moving, but thenthe taller of the three moves to further hide Dylan from Derek’s gaze, and so does the newly turned werewolf, it annoys Derek somewhat to be denied a chance to see his little brother; a little brother he hadn’t seen in six long years. 

 

`How does he know my name Isaac? ´ Dylan asks in a whisper, but Derekhears it loud and clear and he sees the way the pale hands of his little brother grasp on tightly to the sweater Isaac was wearing, `Do you know him? Who is he? ´

 

`I don’t know.´ Isaac answered quickly and before Derek can say anything the pale skinned youth who attempts to keep the peeking boy hidden behind his back, but likeDylan was still the same little kid he’d been six years ago, unwilling to not see and understand everything.

 

Isaac turns his attention back towards Derek and with hostility loud and proud in his voice the youth begins to speak again, `Who are you? I’ll have you know our dad’s the sheriff.´ 

 

`Dylan, ´ Derek ignores this Isaac who steps back forcing Dylan to do the same.

 

` Don’t you remember me? ´ Derek asks moving a little bit closer to where his little brother was hiding, his curious little brother continued to sneak a peek at him and Derek couldn’t help but smile fondly at his little brother.

 

`Why should he? ´ Isaac hissed anger flashing in his eyes before a look of alarm paled his skin and Isaac turned sharply to look at the smaller boy and asked quickly, `Stiles? Do you know him? ´ Dylan shakes his head his beautiful eyes wide and innocent, ` Has he done…´ Derek hates the implication behind the last question and is quick to step in.

 

`Derek. I’m Derek Hale and I’m his brother.´ is all Derek says and it seems like the wrong thing to say as Isaac stars backing him and Dylan further away from Derek. 

 

`You’re crazy. He’s _my_ brother.´ the one called Isaac said before grabbing Dylan’s hand in his own, ` Not yours. Now stay away.´ 

 

`NOT MINE?!´ Derek roars in outrage and begins to move closer to where the young men and his little brother are standing, the one called Isaac pulls Dylan closer to him like he expects Derek to snatch him away and perhaps it’s a reasonable fear considering how Derek does want to pull his little brother away from this stranger and bring him back to where he belongs; and Dylan whimpers a little before hiding his face against Isaac’s stomach. 

 

`I’m his brother.´ Derek says voice a little bit softer than before so not to startle his baby brother who was whispering against the false brother’s stomach.

 

`No you’re not.´ Isaac barks back, while wrapping his arms protectively around Derek’s little brother who rubs his face against the stomach of the taller and older boy, whining somewhat fearfully, `Ike – Ike let’s go. I don’t want to be here.´ Isaac agrees immediately with Dylan as well as the other boy who agrees with Dylan too, Isaac scoops up Dylan like he weighs nothing and Dylan settles on Isaac’s hip like they’ve done this on a daily basis and perhaps it was normal for this Isaac-fellow to carry Dylan around, and wasn’t that just a punch in Derek’s gut. 

 

Derek starts to move towards his little brother as soon as the older teen starts to walk away with him, curious brown eyes peeking at Derek over the broad shoulder of the curly haired youth, but as soon as Derek calls out to his little brother ready to bring-up memories of nights shared in the same bed curled up together with bunny and reading fairytales, runs around the preserve and picking flowers; the teenager carrying his little brother snaps around and barks out furiously, `Stay away.´ and the newly bit werewolf gives out a growl while flashing beta-yellow eyes at him, it’s that uncontrolled action that has Derek stepping back because he knows how dangerous a newly bit werewolf could be and Derek would not risk the safety of his little brother. 

 

`Fine. Fine.´ Derek says raising his hands and backing away, he may step back for now but he wasn’t going to give-up on his baby brother. Derek had lost Laura but he’d found his baby brother. 

 


	2. Thing about the broccoli

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> 15 minutes is back! My friend Bohemian asked for me to scribble down another chapter to another story because her brain has died (midsummer partying is a dangerous thing) and this is the one she chose. She asked Isaac and Stiles and Scott here but also a smidge of Derek. And this is what came out of it, I know I sort of forgot about Scott here. And this is like stupid short because I just couldn't get my brain working.

 

Walking back to where the Jeep that had once belonged to his mother was parked Isaac Stilinski keeps checking over his shoulder to make sure the weirdo in a leather jacket wasn’t following them. There was something horribly terribly wrong about the guy in the woods, Isaac didn’t like the way the guy had claimed to be Stiles brother but it was the way the guy had looked at Stiles that unnerved Isaac the most. Isaac holds his little brother just a little bit tighter while quickening his pace and for once his little brother doesn’t complain or fuss about being carried around like a baby, if anything Stiles holds him just a little bit tighter. Isaac can’t help but feel like this stranger was someone incredibly dangerous, a threat to their family.

 

He’s afraid of what this guy who was clearly delusional might do to them if he suddenly decided that he’d just take what he wanted, what could Isaac and Scott do to a guy who was visibly stronger than him or Scott? Nothing, there was nothing they could that was what they could do. If the guy decided to take Stiles he could, and all Isaac could do was hope and pray that he and Scott would be able and alive enough to call for help.

 

Isaac curses his stupidity when it came to taking Stiles with them to the woods, Isaac knows he should’ve just left Stiles with Erica and her mother, if only he’d left Stiles with Erica then Stiles would’ve been eating cookies and reading comics instead of being threatened by some lunatic in a leather jacket.

 

`Is he following us? ´ Scott asks as the familiar Jeep came into sight.

 

Isaac turns his attention towards Scott who he knows should be by now wheezing for air but he isn’t and that’s odd, very odd, and Isaac knows it but for now he has greater worries than Scott’s lack of respiratory issues, Isaac had to get his little brother to safety for in the back of his mind he couldn’t shake away the feeling of looming danger much like he had done when he’d been littler and still lived with his birthfather; that same tickle at the back of his mind had always come just before Mr. Lahey gave him a beating or locked him in the freezer, and now it was there again making the hairs on his arms stand-up.

 

`I don’t know.´ Isaac says turning his gaze back behind them, `Let’s hope not.´ He can’t see anyone following them but he’s not about to risk it by pausing and so he hurries onwards telling Scott they should really get to the Jeep and head back home.

 

`Dude I think – I think we should tell John about him.´ Scott says as they reach the Jeep, and Isaac agrees even if he knows this little walk in the woods with Stiles in toe would land him and Scott in a heap of trouble, but the guy in the woods wearing a leather jacket wasn’t right on so many levels that getting grounded for a month could be dealt with, losing his baby brother to a total psycho wasn’t something Isaac could handle even if he hadn’t been all that thrilled all those years ago when his dad and mom told him he was going to be a big brother; Isaac had been anything but thrilled by the idea of becoming a brother to some snotty nosed kid it didn’t matter how many times his mother told him he’d make a wonderful big brother for the boy who’d been mistreated by his dad just like Isaac had been, Isaac had made it positively clear that he didn’t want to share his adoptive parents with another or to be a big brother by refusing to even say hi to the wide eyed boy with ugly burns littering his little body.  But things had changed and these days Isaac took a certain pride in being a big brother and he’d grown to love his little brother who was so damn clever, so bright in fact that until their parents caught up with it Isaac allowing Dylan to do some of his homework Isaac had happily allowed his little brother to do them for him, but even after Stiles stopped doing his homework Isaac continued to love his baby brother and he would do anything to protect Stiles.

 

`No.´ Stiles says with an air of alarm, `No, you’ll get into so much trouble.´ Stiles is more than right about what will happen once their dad and Melissa learned about their little walk in the woods after a half of a female body was found there, and it was true that Stiles wouldn’t be in trouble unlike Isaac and Scott because they were older than him they were responsible for him, and Isaac knew Melissa would give them the long and boring speech about their duties as Stiles’ brothers and the responsibility behind it that long speech rarely changed more than a word or two Isaac knew the speech by heart by now except for the minor changes now and again.

 

`It’s going to be fine Stiles.´ Isaac tells him before shoving him rather roughly into the backseat of their mother’s Jeep, Stiles had been envious beyond comparison to anything when he realized their dad gave Isaac Claudia’s Jeep but that was just the perks of being big brother instead of being baby brother.

 

`But,´ Stiles continued but Isaac ignored him and his brother’s seatbelt on, and Scott soon slipped inside the Jeep and so did Isaac but not before checking behind him to make sure that creepy stranger wasn’t following them, `Dad’s going to ground you two, and Mel will make us eat broccoli for dinner and…´

 

`Stiles it’s fine.´ Isaac reassured his brother before starting up the Jeep, but his brother just groaned unhappily, `The broccoli Isaac, think about the broccoli!´  Isaac couldn’t stop the little laughter escaping him as they speeded away from the area they weren’t even supposed to be in not since half-a-body of a young woman had been found and especially not since Isaac had been caught running around the Preserve with Scott last night; the only reason Stiles hadn’t been with them was because he’d been sleeping.

 

~*~

 

Derek Hale watched as this Isaac fellow and the newly bitten werewolf begin to walk away from him with _his_ little brother who continued to keep an eye on Derek but there was no recognition in those bright beautiful eyes, it had been years since Dylan had seen him and back then Derek hadn’t been as tall or as muscular or like Laura had described him as angry looking ready to kill sort of a guy, and it is now for the first time Derek Sebastian Hale wishes that his brother had been born a werewolf so that Dylan would recognize his scent.

 

He waits until he can be sure that even the young werewolf can’t sense his presence before going hurrying off after the two trespassers and his little brother, he stays at a safe distance but close enough so that he can smell and hear everything. Derek can’t stop the little chuckle that escapes him when he hears the desperation in his brother’s voice as he says “The broccoli Isaac, think about the broccoli” and it’s a strange sensation after not laughing in far too many years, and it’s then that he realizes how much he’s missed his baby brother.  Derek continues to follow the powder-blue Jeep which sounds like it’s about to breakdown any day now and hopefully without his brother onboard, Derek stalks the vehicle by keeping himself in the shadows of trees and buildings.

 

The Jeep makes is way towards the Sheriff station which surprises Derek a little and as the three males climb out of the Jeep Derek finds himself smiling again as he watches his little brother slap away the hand of the guy called Isaac when he’d tried to grab the hand of Derek’s little brother.

 

`I’m not a baby Isaac.´ Dylan says sharply before walking towards the Sheriff’s station with his head held high and as if on que the moment his little brother says, `I can walk on my own Ike, ´ he stumbles and nearly plants his face on the steps of the sheriff’s station but luckily the one called Scott grabs him by the arm and yanks him upright. The two older boys try to fight the little snickers that escape them which earn them a glare from the boy who heads straight into the building, followed closely by the two older boys.

 

Derek’s heart hardens with anger and jealousy as he hears his brother shout out with an air of happiness and excitement, `DAD! ´

 

`Hi there kiddo.´ Derek hears the familiar voice of the sheriff although he’s never heard it as light and cheerful as it is now, Derek can almost imagine the man smiling down at Dylan who was probably hugging the man in question, Derek doesn’t like it at all.

 

 `Isaac, did you forget that you’re grounded, and what about you Scott did? ´ the sheriff asks, just as another male voice shouts out, `Stiles! What’s up little dude.´ Derek moves to stand on the roof of the Sheriff Station listening to the man who appears to have stolen the part of father from Derek’s and Dylan’s own father and it irks him a great deal to think of all the things this stranger beneath his feet had been able to experience when it came to Dylan.

 

`No, sir.´ both teenagers answer meekly while Dylan starts up a conversation about school with the deputy and this is when Derek learns his little brother is taking class’ at that high school, several in fact and the deputy seems impressed while the sheriff sound’s incredibly proud as he slips into that small exchange between Dylan and the deputy, `Yep, I’ve got a genius for a son, and Isaac’s smart too and he’s decided to try out for Lacrosse now that he’s grown bored with basketball – there wasn’t enough challenge for him in that sport.´ there’s such pride in the man’s voice, Derek remembers a time when his and Dylan’s dad had once spoken with that same amount of pride about Derek.

 

`Dad.´ Isaac and Dylan groan at the way the man praises both of them, which only causes the man to chuckle a little before asking the boy Isaac why they weren’t home like they should be, that’s the moment the boy Isaac says, `Dad we need to talk.´

 

`What did you break? ´ is the first thing the sheriff asks and Dylan answers immediately, ` Nothing dad.´

 

`Nothing dad, we’ve broken nothing.´ Isaac says and Scott agrees with this statement, but Scott and Dylan go so very quiet the moment Isaac says, ` But we went to the Preserve.´

 

`YOU DID WHAT?!´ the man yells before speaking with an inside voice, `Are you trying to get yourselves grounded until you go to college, is that it because you just need to ask and I’m sure I can do that for you without you idiots risking your own lives. ´

 

`No sir.´ both teens answer immediately while Dylan inquires carefully if he’s grounded until he goes off to college too.  

 

`No son. Your brother’s are though because they are supposed to look after you and _not_ drag you into dangerous situations. ´ the sheriff explains with a voice a little bit less furious than a moment ago.

 

`Dad, there was a guy in the woods.´ Isaac says and the boy Scott doesn’t skip a beat when saying, `and he was crazy interested in Stiles.´

 


	3. Broccoli, how cruel

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So I just wanted to show a little bit of the McCall-Stilinski or Stilinski-McCall family dynamic’s here, and even if you don’t like it I don’t regret writing it because I really just want people to know what Derek and yes even Peter has to face when it comes to this family.  
> And yes does turn into sort of a little baby when he gets very sleepy, blame this idea on my cat people.

`I told you, I told you there would be broccoli.´ Derek heard Dylan hiss from within the house, Derek can’t help the way a tiny laugh dares to escape from within him but Dylan just sounds so alive and adorably hilarious in his unhappiness about something so trivial like broccoli. Derek wanted nothing more than to sit at a dinner table with his little brother and help his baby brother by stealing away the awful broccoli that say on Dylan’s plate, but Derek was stuck in the backyard of the yellow house with white window frames doomed to listen in on the life his little brother lived.

Derek had followed his baby brother from the Sheriff’s station all the way to family friendly suburbs on foot, he’d remained hidden as the Jeep and the Sheriff’s own vehicle which came with his job were parked up the driveway of a house that was in Derek’s eyes nothing special, the house was a great deal smaller than the one in which Derek and Dylan had started their lives in and it was rather dull and similar in appearance to the rest of the buildings lining the quiet street.

`At least you’re not grounded.´ Derek hears the newly bit werewolf groan with the overly dramatic misery teens were prone too, it was of course true that Dylan hadn’t been grounded unlike the two teens which were rightful even in Derek’s mind held entirely responsible for Dylan’s well-being when he was alone with them. Derek may have agreed with the Sheriff’s and the woman called Melissa or as Dylan had called her mom’s decision to punish the two older boys, but he was not at all happy about his little brother being punished too be it in the shape of losing what some would call privileges which didn’t seem to really bother Dylan who was still at that age when his own imagination could be as entertaining as videogames.

Melissa had walked out of the house face hard with anger as soon as the two cars came up the driveway as if she’d been standing by the window overlooking the street getting herself prepared for the moment she would have to face the three boys, all three boys had visibly shrunk before the angry woman and lowered their heads in shame and if Derek hadn’t known any better he would’ve thought the woman to be an Alpha just like Dylan’s and his mother had been, but this woman Melissa smelled perfectly human still he couldn’t not deny it that she was certainly intimidating when angered; while the two teens were unhappy about being grounded for two weeks Dylan seemed happy about it, hugging Isaac’s arm tightly while hanging off of it while the boys headed inside the house, kicking his feet covered in messy pair of shoes in the air while telling this person who’d taken Derek’s place how he was going to get his ass-kicked in Monopoly, of course Dylan was told off swiftly for using such language not only by the Sheriff or the woman who still seemed ooze with an anger based on the realization of all the dreadful things that could’ve happened.

There was an odd and horrific pain inside Derek chest as he listened and watched as his little brother interacted with these strangers the same way Derek had once done with their own much larger family where uncles and aunts lived with him and his parents and siblings, it hurt to see the way these two teenagers got to play big-brother with his little brother who’d once upon a time would wait for Derek to come home from school with open arms demanding to be picked-up, and who would cheer the loudest at any one of Derek’s games and cry the loudest when Derek got knocked off his ass; it had never mattered to Dylan that Derek was a werewolf and could heal as easily as he could breathe Dylan would still always cry when he thought Derek got hurt or if he thought someone was being mean to him, during the last basketball game they’d attended Dylan had wailed loudly the words `You big meanie´ at one of the guys on the other team that had punched Derek accidentally in the face with his elbow forcing Peter to take Dylan out of there because of how upset he was, Derek had got a lot of shit for that from his team-mates as well as the guys on the other team while girls around school thought it was freaking adorable and in all honesty Derek still didn’t get what the big deal had been with how close he’d been with his little brother; if things were different, had been different, Derek would’ve been the loudest cheerer for his brother and probably be the loudest one in their family demanding justice for Dylan if some snotty nosed twit pushed him to the ground, but things hadn’t gone right for either one of them since Derek got tricked by Kate Argent.  
  
Because of Kate Argent Derek had been replaced, and the fact that he wasn’t the person Dylan clung too made Derek feel like he just wanted to rip the world apart.

Carefully Derek moves closer to the window that gave him a chance to see the interactions of the small family gathered around a table that wouldn’t have served Derek’s family as it was too small with too few seats.

Seeing how the one called Isaac picked pieces of broccoli off of Dylan’s plate every time the coast was clear for him to do so made Derek’s resentment towards the tall teen who’d been driving the rust-bucket of Jeep, seeing how his little brother looked up at this person who’d taken Derek’s place as Dylan’s big brother with pure love and gratitude made Derek hate the teen almost as much as he hated Kate Argent and the Alpha that had killed Laura; frankly Derek hated all of them, he hated the woman that played the part of Dylan’s mother making sure he ate his vegetables and drank his milk, he didn’t like the man pretending to be Dylan’s dad even if he took the time to ask Dylan about school and helping him with his homework and staying long enough to tuck Dylan into bed before going back to work, Derek didn’t care for the boy Scott the slightest and it wasn’t just because he was dangerous with being a newly bit werewolf; Derek didn’t like Scott because he got to play big brother to Derek’s little brother too, because he like Isaac were able to do all the things with Dylan Derek couldn’t.

Derek hated them all.  
  
Although it was clear Isaac and Scott weren’t as happy about being grounded as Dylan was, of course Dylan seemed perfectly oblivious to the fact that the two teens weren’t as thrilled about the whole being grounded thing which was made known by the way Dylan says things like, `Now we get to hangout more, we can play board games and build blanket-forts,´ while trying battle the broccoli on his plate and he seems genuinely happy about the prospect of having the two teens around more, but his happiness was short lived as the woman Melissa reminds Dylan to eat his broccoli, Dylan made a disgruntled sound which quickly followed with the sound of gagging to which the Sheriff responded promptly with a short, `Don’t play with your food Stiles.´  
  
Derek wants to roar his rage listening and watching the interaction between Dylan and the others, it hurt to stand there outside looking in on a life Derek knew he and Dylan could’ve had with their own family if Derek hadn’t been as stupid and reckless as he’d been with Kate Argent. This situation was entirely Derek’s own fault because he’d been a stupid teenager thinking not with his head or heart but with his useless dick.

He wants to leave to run but Derek can’t bring himself to leave his brother again, and so he stay and suffers through the agony of watching and listening to these strangers behave around his little brother like they were his family, and while he stands there Derek has to wonder if Laura had done this too, stood outside this house and watched over their little brother while feeling the same ache bloom inside her heart like it did within his own.

He moves around the property in a stubborn and desperate attempt to try and catch glimpses of his little brother who’d somehow survived the fire that had destroyed the life they’d known, there’s a bitterness growing inside his heart as he watches Dylan throw himself at his so-called older brothers and once Dylan is order to get ready for bed Derek climbs up into great old tree that grew on the small property.

Perched up on the thick old branches Derek realizes he has the perfect view into what has to be Dylan’s bedroom, he can’t imagine either one of the two teens having a bedroom devoted to Batman and a few other superhero’s and sure enough once Dylan had finished his bath the scrawny looking boy wearing only a towel came walking into the room already yawning and a bit slow in his movements, there was a bit of toothpaste stuck at the corner of his mouth too suggesting he was as sloppy at brushing his teeth as Cora had been.

Seeing the evidence of the fire Derek’s foolish love for Kate had allowed to happen carved into the flesh of his little brother leaves Derek breathless with a horrific pain in his heart, seeing what he’d caused taint the once smooth and pale skin of his baby brother positively destroys something within Derek and it takes all of his will-power and the fear of discovery to keep him from howling his guilt and sorrow into the dark sky above his head, and he weeps his sorrow and grief silencing the louds sobs into his shaky hands.

Derek knows he could never come close to understanding or imagine the amount of fear Dylan had to have felt when the fire had started, and that alone was enough to leave Derek feeling close to breaking down completely, he could imagine how his baby brother had clung to one of the adults most likely Peter since when it came to seeking comfort their parents were only fourth on the list of people Dylan was drawn too when seeking comfort, crying and screaming with fear before it turned to pain as the flames started to lick at his sensitive skin that needed layers of sunscreen from early spring to late autumn. It’s the thought of the terror his brother had to have experienced when he realized he wasn’t the only one afraid that really set Derek off into tears, because hadn’t he told Dylan once when thunder roared over their heads and flashes of bright angry lights lit the otherwise dark room that unless everyone else around him was afraid then there was nothing for Dylan to worry about?

Derek can’t imagine how his brother could’ve survived the pain the flames of the fire had to have caused him, and Derek hopes for a second that it had been Peter Dylan had clung too as the fires burned since Derek trusted that Peter would’ve at least tried to take as much of the pain from Dylan’s little body.

Suddenly as he sits there watching his brother, seeing how he’d not made it through the fire untouched by flames leaving behind patches of ugly scars that weren’t as bad as uncle Peter’s and yet somehow they seemed worse somehow; the worst of the burns were found on Dylan’s right arm half-way down the forearm up to the shoulder and it seemed to almost cover Dylan’s entire back, there were also several patches of burns on the hip and legs. Suddenly the way his little brother moves, the slightly stiff and ungraceful motion of his body started to make sense to Derek who continued to watch his little brother with tears streaming forth unstopped.

Once dried up and wearing a pair of Batman underwear Dylan walked over to the closed door of his little bedroom and opened it, calling out for the woman called Melissa, `Mom! I’m ready!´ Derek squeezes Dylan’s stuffed-toy as his claws pop out because he and his wolf do not like hearing Dylan address someone else as mom.  
  
Melissa walks into the room just as Dylan starts to pull at the covers of his bed and fluffing his pillow, he turns around to face the woman who had a look of pity on her face when Dylan had his back to her but put on a smile on her face the moment he turned around to face her, although he didn’t actually look at her instead he pressed his face the soft looking fabric of the knitted sweater she was wearing and nuzzle against it making a little sound that was achingly familiar to Derek.  
  
`Sleepy?´ the woman asks her free hand rubbing Dylan’s scalp, Derek sees his baby brother answers with a little nod which earns Dylan a kiss on the top of his head, `Then let’s get started so you can go to sleep, okay honey?´ again just a nod.

Dylan steps away from the woman who looked very much like she could be the biological parent of the newly turned werewolf, Derek can’t see what the woman is doing for a minute but then she’s got the sleeves of her sweater rolled-up and a pair of latex gloves on her hands, Derek watches as Melissa starts to rub some sort of ointment over the marks that spoke of the horrors Dylan had survived through. Derek can hear the woman hum softly there’s something about the whole thing that makes it clear to werewolf that this wasn’t a new thing to Dylan’s bedtime routine, it takes what feels like forever to Derek until the woman helps Dylan get dressed in a pair of Spiderman PJ’s and then onto his little bed which seems a bit too big for him suddenly as he doesn’t seem capable of getting up on it without Melissa’s help.

Derek watches as the woman helps his brother get comfortable in bed, handing him a teddy bear which Dylan hugs tightly, she turns on a nightlight before leaning down to kiss both of Dylan cheeks, `Nighty night honey.´ the woman say softly and Dylan responds by yawning out, `Night-night mom.´

`See you in the morning.´ the woman who’d stolen Derek’s mother’s place says softly while slipping out of the bedroom, turning of the light and leaving the door ajar thus letting a little bit more light to stream into the small bedroom.

Derek moves a little bit closer to the window, his wolf and he want to be closer to Dylan just to make sure he’s safe and above all they want to make sure he’s not in pain. Derek moves slowly and carefully, focusing on feeling out the thick branch beneath his feet, it feels solid and does not groan or complain in anyway as he moves; this branch is his bridge to the slanting roof next to his brother’s window, but then a figure appears in the doorway to his brother’s room and Derek has to pull back and hide in the shadows once more, his wolf growls with displeasure over the whole situation.

The figure belongs to the Sheriff who moves over to the bed and sits down at the edge of it which causes Dylan to snuggle closer to him mumbling out sleepily, `Daddy? ´ and Derek feels like screaming at Dylan to stop it, to stop treating these people as family because they weren’t, but he knows he has to be quiet because it was clear that the Sheriff saw Dylan as his son and if the man was any sort of a man he’d do anything to protect what he considered his family; and frankly having a man who was to you a stranger spying on your son from a tree outside said sons window well it would warrant a less than friendly reaction from the gun and badge carrying man, of course the Sheriff had locked his gun away as soon as he walked into the house, but still Derek was certain he would get shot first and asked questions later if he was caught looming outside Dylan’s window, hell he wouldn’t be surprised is the lady of the house came after him with a knife or some other weapon of choice .  
  
`Daddy’s here.´ the Sheriff tells the boy who rubs his face against the side of the sheriff’s knees snuffling quietly, settling down only when he feels the heavy hand of the man who resembled nothing at all like their father on his small scarred back.

`Story.´ Dylan demands even if he’s hardly awake enough to really need one but the Sheriff complies none the less, the story is about a clever little fox and his brothers who are a giraffe and a Labrador retriever but the boy slips into the world of dreams before the story even has a chance to properly begin, once the Sheriff is certain that Dylan is sleeping he gently tucks his son in and kisses the temple of the sleeping child before taking the time to just sit there watching over the sleeping child while continuing to rub his back and whispering into the night softly, `Claudia, if you can hear me, try and keep the bad dreams away, ´ there’s a sadness in the Sheriff’s voice that speaks of great sorrow, `Our boy needs a goodnights sleep, okay? If you could just this once help him it would be greatly appreciated.´ then he leans down and kisses the soft little cheek wishing the boy sweet dreams before walking out the door leaving it ajar.

Who the hell is Claudia? Derek wonders from where he’s perched.

Derek wants to go to Dylan but he’s not certain that the woman wouldn’t go and check on Dylan and so he decides to wait until the rest of the house has retired for the night, the wait is horrible and as he watches the Sheriff leave which he does only after he’s made certain the two older boys do not leave the house until the following morning for school which they swear to do, then before the man leaves he hugs both boys and tells them to take care of each other and their little brother and the woman Melissa which the two boys promise to do. The Sheriff kisses what has to be his wife goodbye telling her to call him if anything happens and that he would try and make it back in time to have breakfast with her and the kids, she on the other hands tells him not to worry and to be safe.  
  
Derek was right to stay hidden up in the tree because yes indeed before the newly bit werewolf goes to bed he does check in on the sleeping child, watching the werewolf approach his brother’s bed has Derek growling, he doesn’t trust the younger wolf even if there’s no sign of him wanting to harm the sleeping child there was still no reason to believe he wouldn’t do it though, anything could cause the beast out from hiding and someone helpless and wounded like Dylan would be easy prey. But Scott as he is called doesn’t stay long only to check on Dylan and kiss him goodnight on his cheek while whispering, `Try and sleep through the night Stiles, there’s a girl a like now and I want to impress her and I can’t do that if I look half-dead on my feet.´

Derek watches as the taller teen slips into the bedroom not long after the young werewolf heads to his own bedroom. Isaac as the teenager was called checks the windows to make sure they a closed before moving over to where Dylan is sleeping and kissing his cheek too before wishing him sweet dreams and walking out of the bedroom, Derek is glad that his little brother is cared for by people who obviously love him but it also stings terribly to know these strangers have replaced him and Laura and everyone else in their family.

  
It’s close to midnight when the woman Melissa finally decides to retire for the night, she made sure every window was closed and that the back and front doors were locked even though Isaac had already done it once, then as she reaches the second floor she checks on the two older boys turning of the beside lamp in Isaac room and sighing heavily about messy teens when dealing with Scott in both of the older boys rooms she’d checked the windows at least that was what Derek thought he heard her doing as she tried the latches a couple of times before feeling satisfied all was locked-up tight. She tucks Dylan’s feet and hands back under the covers before going into the bedroom which she shared with her husband whom she proceeded to call, Derek hears her telling the Sheriff that the kids were all in bed pointing out that all of them were asleep, she also informed the law man that the house was locked-up tight for the night, then with one last stay safe and we love you she ended the call.

Derek waits until he’s certain it’s safe for him to slip into his brother’s bedroom, getting on the roof is easy but unlocking the window is the hardest part, but he manages to unlock the window with some help of his claws and a great deal of determination.

Derek moves slowly towards the bed his heart racing and fingers itching to finally touch his little brother to feel him being alive, Derek kneels down beside the bed eyes raking over sleeping form it takes Derek a moment before he dares to touch his little brother, as he looks over his brother a little foot sticks out from beneath the covers and Derek has to cover his mouth when a little chocked out sob escapes him because the foot he sees is disfigured; two toes are missing and there’s a great deal of scarring there as well and Derek can’t even figure out how his brother is able to walk as well as he’d seen him do with that little foot of his.

`Oh Dylan, I’m so – I’m so - so sorry.´ Derek cries against the matrass for a minute or two before tucking the battered by fire foot back beneath the covers feeling the stickiness of the ointment rubbed into the angry looking skin, Derek keeps his hand on Dylan’s foot while trying to take any pain or discomfort his brother might be feeling and finding very little of it and he suspects it’s a manageable ache.

Derek abandons the foot and focuses on the beautiful face of his brother, carefully the werewolf reaches out to stroke the side of Dylan’s face and as soon as he feels the warmth of his little brother, feeling Dylan alive and breathing causes Derek to cry for the first time tears of joy; Derek wasn’t ashamed of his tears simply because he’d suffer through nightmares of his little brother burning and crying and screaming for Derek.

The werewolf runs his hand over the sleeping form and he can barely hold back the disbelieving laugh that wants to escape him, his heart is swelling with a joy he’d never imagined feeling again Derek had spent years believing his little brother was dead but here he was sleeping peacefully hugging a fairly large teddy bear.

Carefully Derek leans closer to his little brother and kisses his temple and cheek before deciding to crawl up on the small bed, pulling the sleeping form closer and he cries against the top of his little brother as he holds him close; and what causes him even greater joy is the way his brother snuggles closer to him.

`I’ve missed you so much.´ Derek whisper into the little ear of his brother, `You can’t even imagine how much I’ve missed you.´ Derek says as he lays there next to his brother, holding him close. Derek swears that he would never abandon his brother again, that once he’d dealt with the Alpha they could be a family again.


End file.
